Legislation affecting the House of Lords
What are the Parliament Acts?
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 define the powers of the House of Lords in relation to Public Bills (including Private Members' Bills).
The general rule is that all Bills have to be passed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords except in certain circumstances.
Money Bills: certified by the Speaker and deal with taxation of public expenditure.
Money Bills start in the Commons and must receive Royal Assent no more than a month after being introduced in the Lords even if the Lords has not passed them.
Most other Commons Bills: the Lords can hold up a Bill it disagrees with for about a year but ultimately the elected House of Commons can reintroduce it in the following session and pass it without the Lords' consent.
Bills which are not subject to the Parliament Acts are:
- Bills prolonging the length of a parliament beyond 5 years
- Private Bills
- Bills sent up to the Lords less than a month before the end of a session
- Bills which start in the Lords.
Although rarely invoked, the Parliament Acts provide a framework and a means of solving disagreement between the Commons and Lords.
When have the Parliament Acts been used since 1949?
- War Crimes Act 1991
- European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999
- Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
- Hunting Act 2004
What did the Life Peerages Act 1958 do?
The Life Peerages Act 1958 permitted the creation of peerages for life, with no limit on numbers, to persons of either sex.
What did the Peerage Act 1963 allow?
The Peerage Act 1963 allowed hereditary peeresses to be Members of the Lords, hereditary peerages to be disclaimed for life and for all Scottish peers to sit.
What happened under the House of Lords Act 1999?
The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords. The Act allowed for 92 hereditary peers to remain in the House until full reform.
Where can I find information on House of Lords reform?
House of Lords Reform 2010–15 (House of Lords Library Note, 25 March 2015) including information on the Government’s House of Lords Reform Bill 2012-2013 which failed to reach the House of Lords. Also includes the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 which made provision for members to retire or cease to be members through non-attendance; and the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 passed allowing the House of Lords to expel or suspend members.
- House of Lords Reform Draft Bill (PDF 395 KB) (pdf 395KB) (House of Lords Library Note, 16 June 2011) - setting out the Government‘s proposals and the reactions in parliament, the press and from a range of commentators
- House of Lords Reform 1997-2010: A Chronology (PDF 312 KB) (pdf 312KB) (House of Lords Library Note, 28 June 2010) - a summary of the principal developments of 1997-2010
- Possible Implications of the House of Lords Reform (PDF 274 KB) (pdf 275KB) (House of Lords Library Note, 25 June 2010) - an assessment of the impact of reform on the House itself, its relationship with the House of Commons and Government
- Bibliography on Lords Reform (PDF 458.7 KB) (PDF 368 KB) (pdf 368KB)(House of Lords Library Note, 26 April 2012) - summarises a selection of the literature published on the subject of Lords reform
- Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill - First Report (published 23 April 2012) - pre-legislative scrutiny on a draft Bill to reform the House of Lords.
- The Government introduced the House of Lords Reform Bill to the House of Commons on 27 June 2012, with second reading taking place over the course of two days on 9 and 10 July.
The Living Heritage pages of Parliament website have information on House of Lords reform.
How does the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 affect the Lords?
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 received Royal Assent in March 2005 and provides for the separating of the judiciary (legal system) from the legislature (Parliament) and the executive (government).
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005:
- reformed the office of the Lord Chancellor who, as head of the judiciary, appoints judges
- established an independent Judicial Appointments Commission
- sets up a supreme court, independent from the House of Lords, with its own appointments system, staff, budget and building (from October 2009).
